Blatter cool on English 2018 World Cup hopes

The Football Association's strategy for securing the 2018 World Cup was undermined yesterday by Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, who cast doubt on England's prospects within hours of his re-election.

With a decision on how future tournaments are awarded due in November, the FA's strategy is to lobby for an end to the current rotation system, under which the World Cup would not come back to Europe until 2026, in favour of a system that ensures every third tournament is staged in Europe. The strategy has considerable support from leading figures including Danny Jordaan, the chairman of the South Africa 2010 organising committee, not least because the majority of the game's revenue is generated in Europe.

Blatter rejected the idea. "My opinion is that there should be a rotation of the World Cup," he said. "If there is rotation it should be a total rotation and not go back to Europe every third time. Why should it? Our partners do not care where the tournament is held . . . and with all respect to Europe, which is a powerful football continent, I am not sure they are as powerful as all regions."

His stance poses the first test of Geoff Thompson's new role as a Fifa vice-president. The position potentially gives the FA chairman great influence and England an advantage, but overturning the will of a president emboldened by re-election will not be easy. Fifa's executive committee will vote on the issue in November.

Exorcism on cards

Blatter's unopposed re-election concluded a Fifa congress which more closely resembled a rally than a forum for debate. There was little significant business on the agenda and not a single question came from the 204 national associations in attendance, allowing Blatter to cast the victory as a personal triumph over persistent allegations of corruption. He pledged to fight "the four devils" of corruption, doping, gambling and racism but brushed aside concern about the current federal court case in the US, brought by Mastercard against Fifa for breaching an exclusive-renegotiation period to open sponsorship talks with Visa. "It will cost us a pretty penny but don't worry, you'll get the money back somehow," he told delegates. "Some people say that to win without danger is to triumph without glory, but I don't necessarily agree with that."

Outsized blazer of glory

Thompson's elevation to the Fifa vice-presidency was secured only after the Welsh FA brokered a deal between the FA chairman and Jim Boyce, his Northern Irish counterpart. Both men were desperate to succeed John McBeth, the Scot who was withdrawn after making racist comments about Caribbean and African football, but even after being left alone in a hotel room to settle their differences neither would agree to step aside for the other. It took an intervention from the FAW's president, Peter Rees, who proposed that Boyce succeed Thompson, to break the deadlock. The haste with which the deal was done was demonstrated by the borrowed Fifa blazer Thompson was wearing when he was formally inducted into the post yesterday. The jacket was at least two sizes too big, having been dug out in a hurry by Fifa staff on Wednesday night.

Agents under fire

Perhaps the most significant issue approved by Fifa's congress was a tightening of existing regulations on agents that would see commissions capped below 10%. Proposals passed to the executive committee suggest limiting agents' fees to as little as 3% and regularly reviewing their licences.

All aboard gravy plane

Flights from Zurich to London today will be full of Fifa delegates taking up the FA's invitation to watch England take on Brazil at Wembley this evening. As well as guests from as far afield as the Cayman Islands, 12 members of the executive committee, including Uefa's president, Michel Platini, are going to the game, a clear indication that the new stadium will be an important asset in the FA's lobbying for the 2018 World Cup.